


Who Needs Travel Insurance In The Stone Age?

by JayTDawgzone9999



Category: Dr. STONE (Anime), Dr. STONE (Manga)
Genre: Alcohol, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Anxiety, Bad Weather, Being Lost, Belligerent Sexual Tension, Boats and Ships, Canon Divergence, Canon Divergent, Drunkenness, F/M, Football, Forced Teamwork, Gen, Getting Lost, I made Kohaku a little tsundere sue me, M/M, Mild Blood, Multi, One Shot Collection, Rough Kissing, Sailing, Sexual Tension, Some people have feelings, Sparring, Stand-alone chapters, Teamwork, Thunderstorms, Training, Travel, Traveling, Unfortunately none of them understand what those feelings feel like, World Travel, Wrestling
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-05
Updated: 2020-04-09
Packaged: 2021-03-01 00:14:16
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 12,255
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23485879
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JayTDawgzone9999/pseuds/JayTDawgzone9999
Summary: A short collection of scenarios involving a certain favorite ship of mine that will probably never happen.
Relationships: Kohaku/Mozu (Dr. STONE), Minor Ryuusui/Gen, Minor or Background Relationship(s)
Kudos: 7





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> No travel insurance companies were harmed in the making of this fic.

Up until recently, traveling by sea was something Kohaku had limited experience with. Aside from her trip to Treasure Island, Kohaku had mostly stayed on land when leaving Ishigami Village, as she had spent the better part of many days getting hot water to bring back for Ruri. Once she got used to it, however, it wasn't completely awful, and, with the right company, sometimes she could even find moments of entertainment to enjoy once in a while. Mozu was many things, some of them...not great, by any means, but during their journey to America, Kohaku decided that dull wasn't one of them. 

"So then, after Oarashi runs out of the treehouse screaming his ass off, the swarm of bees headed straight for Ibara-the old geezer never knew what hit him-of course, Kirisame and I ran away before he could find us-" 

"Ugh, where the hell did Mozu go?" Hyouga's distant voice distracted Kohaku and Mozu while she was listening to the islander's story. 

"How the hell would I know? Do I look like his babysitter?" Homura answered the white-haired spear-wielder before they both noticed Kohaku and Mozu sitting just around the corner. 

"Well, I gotta go, but I'll let you know how it ended later." Mozu told Kohaku as Hyouga and Homura walked over. 

"Mozu, who told you it was okay to slack off now? It's not even 11 in the morning and you were the one who asked me to teach you, for fuck's sake." Hyouga huffed in an exasperated voice, poking Mozu with the blunt end of his spear. 

"Yeah, yeah, give it a rest, I said I'd be back in a few minutes." Mozu complained as he got up; turning to Kohaku before leaving. 

"Maybe later tonight I'll pay you a little visit in your cabin too." Mozu winked at Kohaku, flashing her a grin that made a pool of warmth pull on things low in her body before walking off with Hyouga, the two spear-wielders starting a conversation that soon became indistinct as they left. 

"In your dreams." Kohaku muttered, an annoying and confusing mix of emotions brewing somewhere in her brain. 

____

"Aw, hell yeah! It's pit-stop time!" Taiju hollered at the top of his lungs when Kohaku saw land on the horizon. "Fresh meat here we come!" the enthusiastic former high school jock pumped his fist in the air, his excitement all but painted on his face as the Perseus prepared to dock. 

"The hell is this shit?" Yo asked nobody in particular when everyone made their way off the boat. 

"What do you think, a deserted island you dumbass!" Magma yelled, clocking Yo on the head. 

"Ow! That's not what I meant, moron!" 

"Oh yeah? What the hell did you mean then, you porcupine looking freak?! Obviously we're stopping here because what's his face wanted to!" 

Ignoring their little squabble, Kohaku breathed a sigh of relief when she felt the sand beneath her feet (she opted to take her shoes off just for that reason, putting them back on once she got her fill of the uniquely pleasant sensation. Ryuusui had the crew of his beloved Perseus make a quick pit stop so the hunters of the crew could get some extra meant to stretch everyone's rations and also so everyone could get some time to stretch their legs a bit on some nice dry land for a bit to increase morale. The goal, such as he explained it, was to allow the rest of the crew to spend the day relaxing while the hunters went and secured extra meat and then have everyone spend the night in their cabins so they could set out again first thing in the morning without delay. 

Being one of the most experienced hunters, along with Tsukasa, Mozu, Nikki, Taiju, and Magma, the not so merry band of brawn headed off to see if they could find a way to make future dinners on the Perseus more interesting (and more filling.) 

"Mozu, be quiet, you're gonna scare off the animals!" Kohaku scolded him, trying not to be too loud while still getting her point across. 

"I'm not making any noise though." 

"What the-then who's whistling?!" 

After Tsukasa, (who everyone listened to without question because he could kill them all with a single hit,) told everyone to split up, told Magma to go with Taiju and Kohaku to go with Mozu, leaving Nikki to accompany him, things went south (not in the literal sense Kohaku and Mozu were told to head,) faster than any mere mortal could have predicted. 

"If anyone's not back in an hour, we'll wait 15 minutes before searching for you, but trust me when I say you better all be back here in an hour." Tsukasa told everyone before they went their separate ways. 

It had been about half an hour since Kohaku and Mozu set off due south, or so the compass Ryuusui lent Kohaku said. 

"I don't know, probably one of the other people, I guess." Mozu replied. 

"Really, Mozu? Taiju and Magma went north and Tsukasa and Nikki went East, so who the hell would be whistling right now?" 

Among other things, the humidity was starting to ruin her hair, so Kohaku wasn't in the best of moods. 

"Well, nobody else is here, so who the fuck else would it be?" 

Goddammit, Kohaku thought. The humidity was bad enough and they hadn't seen any animals large enough to provide enough meat to be worth killing and now this damned whistling was really getting on her nerves. There was also the fact that Ryuusui had claimed this was a deserted island, which meant nobody actually lived there. But of course, as the whistling continued and Kohaku realized Mozu wasn't doing it, then there was only one other possibility. Right? 

"Then again, maybe that captain was wrong when he said this was a deserted island." Mozu went on. "Maybe we've got stalkers-" 

No sooner did the last few words pass his lips than the dysfunctional duo discover just exactly what-not who, as they both noticed with distinct fear and confusion in their eyes-was responsible for the whistling sound.


	2. Chapter 2

By all accounts, the Perseus was an ideal ship for sailing across the Pacific Ocean if there ever was one, but it did nothing to reassure Ginrou, who was wailing in sheer terror, and Matsukaze, who had just performed a tragically well-executed swan dive into a nervous breakdown out of worry for Ginrou, that everything would be okay. 

"Bwahahahaha! Gen, that's hilarious! What happened after they fell in the tiger pit?!" Ryuusui, who was 100% beyond a shadow of a doubt wasted as fuck, asked Gen, slapping the mentalist on the back, causing an equally drunk Gen to almost fall over, the two intoxicated modern men oblivious to the plight of the two stone age citizens a few cabins over ping-ponging back and forth between the five stages of grief repeatedly as Ginrou fought not so valiantly to confront his phobia of thunderstorms and Matsukaze tried in vain to comfort him. 

Kohaku, unable to sleep with all the noise going on, stumbled out of bed, wearing a simple white dress that was a bit more revealing and a bit thinner than her blue one, not even bothering to tie her hair back as she slammed the door shut and marched off prepared to kill. 

"Damn, guess I was wrong when I thought this was gonna be a boring night." Mozu said, whistling when he got an eyeful of Kohaku in her short, curve-hugging sleep dress. 

"Mozu, what the-why is your door open?" Kohaku mumbled, rolling her eyes when he whistled, noticing Mozu lounging on his bed in his cabin. 

"Oh, that? I accidentally ripped it off when I got in a fight and i tried to fix it but the damn thing keeps on opening. Kinda sucks when you want to beat off, but whatever." Mozu's eyes were glued to her like Ryuusui's hands should have been to the wheel of his ship (poor Francois was stuck with that thankless duty at the moment,) and as much as she realized it was inappropriate, the way her face warmed up and her mouth grew dry was too much to ignore. 

The storm outside wasn't one of "the big ones," or so Ryuusui had claimed earlier, not that it made anyone feel better, but Mozu didn't seem particularly bothered-even if he had been, his ego would have prevented him from admitting it-Kohaku reasoned. Kohaku wasn't a worrier like Ginrou or the weird stoic warrior who followed him around like a lost puppy, but thunderstorms, even mild ones like this one, weren't her favorite type of weather-or at least that's what she told herself when she found herself thinking about spending the rest of the night in Mozu's cabin, even if the door was broken (to be fair, it helped that his cabin was farther away from Ryuusui's at least, if not Ginrou's, than hers was.) 

"Ugh, what am I thinking? Why would I-with someone like him?" she had standards, she told herself. If a man wanted her to give him the time of day, he had to have a decent personality too, not just a handsome face. 

"Now that you're here, though, I'd much rather pass the time with you." 

"You would, huh." Kohaku shot back in a snarky voice. "Why does that not surprise me?" 

It wasn't daytime, and as aggravating as Mozu could be sometimes, he didn't just have a handsome face- he also had abs. 

"Mmmm.....ugh, stop staring, Kohaku." Kohaku internally scolded herself, her hormones refusing to cooperate with her brain. 

"So you in or not?" 

"Master Ginrou, please stop smashing your head against the wall!" Matsukaze's voice reverberated through the lower halls of the ship as a piercing wail hurt Kohaku's ears. 

______

After barricading Mozu's door shut with a night stand and part of the bed frame, Kohaku noticed how much, well, less noticeable the sound of the thunder outside and Ginrou and Matsukaze feeding each other's dysfunctional anxiety was when she wrapped her arms around Mozu as his hand made its way up her thigh, sucking in a sharp breath when his lips met hers, both of them pressing their lips against each other a bit too roughly. 

Being (for once that night,) comfortably unaware of the chaos occuring elsewhere on the Perseus, Kohaku dug one hand in Mozu's thick dreadlocks as she dug the nails on her other hand down his back; leaving several thin red stripes down his back as he forced his tongue in her mouth and she bit down on his bottom lip the moment he let his guard down, humming in satisfaction when he broke the kiss, shooting him a wicked grin when he wiped the blood off his mouth; responding by shoving his blood-stained fingers in her mouth. 

"I could get used to this." Kohaku thought when she grabbed Mozu's hand in her own; pressing her foot against his crotch when he went to take his pants off. No sooner did Mozu withdraw his fingers from her mouth, grabbing her foot while his other hand snaked up her other leg did a sudden disturbing thump followed by (in no particular order,) a crash and a scream interrupt the filthy thoughts blissfully distracting Kohaku at the moment, Ginrou and Matsukaze falling from two rooms above them next to the bed. 

"Damn, and just when I finally didn't have to sleep in the cargo section." Mozu thought when he heard the ceiling in his cabin cave in, only looking up for half a second before turning his gaze back to Kohaku. 

"Kohaku?" 

The uncomfortable silence in the room after Ginrou noticed Mozu holding Kohaku's foot near his face was so humiliating Kohaku wanted to disappear into the ocean and never return. 

"What the-what are you doing with him?!" 

"Don't worry about stuff that's got nothing to do with you." Mozu told him, Kohaku sweating bullets all the while. 

"Ugh, my head." Matsukaze, still trying to get his bearings, paid no attention to Kohaku and Mozu, just wanting to make sure Ginrou was alright. 

Before anyone could add anything to the painfully awkward conversation, Matsukaze suddenly shot up like a mole in a game of whack-a-mole as a second crash rung in everyone's ears. 

"Oi, Senku, I think there's been damage in the ship, we better check it out! I'll bring some of the other guys with me!" Taiju's booming voice filled the air as the loud, athletic man ran in the direction of Mozu's cabin. 

"Alright, I'll go get Ryuusui! And one more thing, remember, if there's an explosion, don't touch anything!" 

"Roger that!" 

"All I wanted was a relaxing night..." Kohaku complained to herself in the privacy of her own brain as Taiju, followed by a handful of people from Ishigami Village and the former Empire of Might broke down the door she and Mozu had barricaded, dragging herself off the bed when Mozu let her go.


	3. Chapter 3

The sun was shining, a cool, gentle breeze was in the air, and Kohaku was bored as hell. 

"Well, there's worse things than being bored, I guess..." She told herself while searching for something to do. "Like that." she thought when she turned a corner and saw Ginrou and Matsukaze lying face down while Kinrou and Kirisame were unsuccessfully trying to convince them not to admit defeat against their internal angst and drown in their own tears. 

Wisely deciding not to get involved in situations beyond her ability to comprehend, Kohaku quickly got out of the way, making her way to the other side of the ship where she saw Mozu and Hyouga sparring. Since the weather was nice and there was nothing else to do, Kohaku found a comfortable yet safely out of the way place to watch them. Whatever else they were, they both happened to be shirtless, which Kohaku found rather-"Geez, what's wrong with me? Must be the boredom." she thought, noticing that after a stretch of slow days much like this one, she found herself with a certain itch that she wished could be scratched. 

"Enjoying the view?" 

"Huh?" 

Homura, who had snuck up so quietly Kohaku hadn't even heard her doing it, asked, sitting down next to Kohaku. 

"Don't worry, I understand." Homura said, her gaze drifting towards Hyouga, holding a small makeshift camera in her hand. "As much as I like training with Hyouga, this is just as much fun." Homura turned to face her friend, snapping a picture of a hot, sweaty, shirtless Hyouga with the camera she stole ("borrowed," she claimed,) from Minami.

______

"Hm, what a nice day it is-"Tsukasa thought, his 15 seconds of peace and quiet interrupted by someone crying. 

"Minami, what's wrong?" 

"Someone stole my camera and I can't find it! I only left for a minute and it's gone!" she cried, Tsukasa patting her head because he had no idea what else to do. 

"Don't worry, we'll find it. Do you remember where you last had it?" 

"I was in my cabin, but I left something on the deck and when I went to get it and came back, my camera was gone. Who would sneak in my room and take it? I don't understand!" 

"Mm, well, there are only so many people on this ship, it can't be too hard to find." Tsukasa tried to reassure her, petting her hair with one hand while she cried. He wasn't really the hugging type, but they had been friends for a while without any drama and without her camera, Minami couldn't do her job and he wanted to keep her from barreling full speed ahead down the same path Ginrou and Matsukaze ended up on-Tsukasa shuddered at the thought as he gently stroked her hair, humming in a low voice. 

"It'll be alright, I'll help you find it. It's okay, you're going to be okay." he murmured, giving her a gentle squeeze with one arm before letting go, both of them oblivious to the growing crowd of people gathering around to watch two antisocial spear-wielders throw down their spears and start wrestling. 

"Well, guess it was too much to expect the peace and quiet to last." Tsukasa thought as he and Minami headed off to find her camera. "Hopefully nothing else annoying happens today."


	4. Chapter 4

"Well, here we go. Another day, another step closer to America." Kohaku thought, ignoring Ginrou asking Kinrou "Are we there yet?" and Kinrou grinding his teeth in exasperation. 

Given how life usually was, Kohaku knew better than to blindly hope for something interesting to happen, but life, of course, didn't give a single flying shit what Kohaku (or anyone else) wanted. 

"Ahhhhhhh!" someone's scream filled the air as a giant predatory sea creature rose from the depths of the ocean, causing the Perseus to sway as the waves rolled beneath it. 

"Ahhhhhh, help me!" someone screamed again as the creature picked him up, preparing to eat him. 

"Hey, get away from him, you ugly sea creature!" Taiju yelled, running towards the creature to punch it but got knocked aside with a single blow from the indescribably ugly form of ocean life that was as of yet an unidentified species. 

"Ow, my head!" 

"Ahh, Taiju, don't get up too fast-" Yuzuriha yelled, running over to him. "Wait, I think your-" 

"Take him to the first aid cabin!" Ryuusui, currently ending the process of nursing a wicked hangover from the night before, told her. "For fuck's sake, where the hell are all our warriors? We need people with long-ranged weapons especially!" 

Kohaku, ignoring Ryuusui's complaining for a minute when she saw Yuzuriha struggling to pick up Taiju, ran over to her to help her carry down Taiju to the first aid cabin before rushing in to fight the monster while shouts, screams, and the sound of people running filled the air. 

"Geez, you guys sure took your sweet time-" Ryuusui complained-"Hey, where the hell's Tsukasa?!" 

"Uh, well-" someone tried to answer but got snatched up by the monster. 

______

"No...no...no, I can't-" 

Roughly 15 minutes after Ryuusui received a panicked phone call from Ishigami Village and Senku, who happened to be nearby at the time, demanded that Ryuusui hand the phone over to him, Senku was currently oblivious to the disaster unfolding several feet above him as he watched Minami try to console Tsukasa in a nearly pitch-black cabin, as Tsukasa had smashed both the ceiling lights and the lamp next to the bed in someone else's cabin in his hysterical state. Senku, who regretted the sixth sense he randomly seemed to have developed lately to tell him when something was wrong, had ended up becoming the bearer of bad news when Tsukasa happened to walk by when he picked up the phone and the man on the other end claimed that Mirai went missing a day ago and nobody could find any sign of her. 

"Oh, honey, I'm so sorry!" Minami, who was kneeling by Tsukasa, patted his back while Senku, who had secretly snuck some booze and ginger ale from the kitchen, deciding it was best to be prepared for the widest range of possibilities as possible, stood nearby as he got out a plastic cup, unsure which drink to pour until Tsukasa dry heaved. 

"Oh, no, your hair-" Minami quickly sped into action, grabbing Tsukasa's hair and holding it away from his face until he dragged himself up into a sitting position again, tears streaming down his face. 

"Looks like the answer to this one's ten billion percent obvious." Senku thought, pouring Tsukasa a glass of ginger ale. 

"Mirai,...how could she..." Tsukasa almost choked trying to speak. "How could she-" 

"Shh, don't push yourself, you just concentrate on resting, okay? If you need anything, we'll be right here." Minami assured him, rubbing his back while Senku handed him the glass. 

_____

"You sure you guys got him?" Kohaku asked when Chrome stepped in to help Yuzuriha take Taiju to the first aid cabin. 

"Yeah, we're good, we got this!" Chrome reassured her. 

"Ahhhh, what the fuck, are those tentacles?!" Magma hollered as the creature picked him up and roared as it threw him on the deck right near the ship's wheel. "At least buy me dinner first, jackass!" Magma yelled, giving the creature the finger after he spat out one of his teeth. 

"What the-" What the fuck happened, Kohaku asked herself when she saw Magma, Yo, Matsukaze, Kinrou, and Kirisame all lying on the deck in various states of distress after getting their asses kicked by some low-budget looking lovecraftian monster from the depths of the ocean floor. 

"Well, looks like it's up to use now, so you two better listen if you don't want to end up like-" 

"Hey, haven't seen you in a bit." Mozu said when he noticed Kohaku, while Hyouga struggled to recall the name of the two men from the former Empire of Might who got eaten by the monster. 

"Well, nobody cares, anyways, get your weapons and help out." Hyouga instructed them. "Alright, on the count of three: one, two, three-" 

_____

"Holy shit, we made it!" Ryuusui said while various people dragged Kinrou, Kirisame, Matsukaze, Magma, and Yo off to the first aid cabin. "You all did great, and you three in particular get drinks on the house tonight-er, ship,-well, you know what I mean!" he continued, looking at Kohaku, Mozu, and Hyouga as he went in for a group hug, which all three of them rejected. 

"Sir? I believe it's for you." Francois, who was holding the phone, told Ryuusui, handing him the small object. 

"Ah, thank you, Francois." he replied, picking up the phone. "Oh, hey! Hey, you're that guy from Ishigami village, right? What's up dude?!" Ryuusui hollered in to the phone as Senku and Minami were struggling to help Tsukasa up on the deck so he could get some fresh air. "Oh, no way, man, that's nuts! You mean-aw, dude, it's cool, no need to apologize, I was drunk last night too-we've all had nights like that-you scared me nearly half to death there though!" 

"My God, he sure loves to run his mouth." Hyouga muttered, heading off to look for Homura. 

"So anyways-" Mozu turned to Kohaku, both of them covered in blood (not their own,) but it did nothing to deter Mozu from appreciating the way her curves looked in her dress. "Since it seems like we're still alive, we ought to celebrate together." 

"Glad to know you're okay too." Kohaku huffed, Mozu being just as much himself as he always was. What to do with him, she wondered, her mind wandering aimlessly as Ryuusui's disastrous phone conversation kept on racing full speed ahead in the worst direction possible. 

"So anyways, no need to apologize, it's cool, I've certainly done worse things than mistake a dog for a little girl when I was drunk-hell, I should have waited a moment before handing the phone to Senku, to be honest-glad Mirai's not missing, anyways-"

Well, there were worse things than having an interesting day, Kohaku thought as she threw her bloody clothes in a heap on the floor and squeezed in one of the showers with Mozu. She could have been having a day like Ryuusui, she thought, ignoring the sound of Ryuusui's terrified screams a few floors above her as Tsukasa picked up the captain with one arm.


	5. Chapter 5

The afternoon sun was hotter than the morning sun, which was to be expected. While Kohaku enjoyed the warm, sunny weather they had been having lately, not everyone was a fan. 

"Ugh, it's ten billion percent too hot outside." Senku complained, leaning on the deck. 

"Hey, at least it's not humid though! Besides, you need some sunlight, it's got that vitamin-" Taiju paused, waiting for his brain to catch up with his mouth. "Hey, Yuzuriha!" Taiju shouted. "What vitamins does the sun have?!" 

"Vitamins? You mean Vitamin D?" she offered. 

"Do you need some water?" Francois asked Senku, who looked about half dead from the heat before they had even reached land. 

"Yeah, I'd appreciate that, thanks." Senku answered, taking the glass of water Francois offered him as Taiju and Yuzuriha hugged each other, Taiju picking up the smaller girl with a huge grin painted on his face. 

"I love you, Yuzuriha, you're the smartest, most intelligent woman ever!" 

Well, at least some people were having a good time, Kohaku thought as Taiju hugged his girlfriend like his life depended on it, his expression beaming with pride. 

"Alright, guys, listen up, I have some good news!" Ryuusui informed everyone. "Since we've been making better time than expected, guess what time it is? Vacation time!" 

A wide range of shouts and cheers could be heard as the captain of the Perseus then informed his crew that they were going to take a short little break in the tropical paradise of Hawaii, Kohaku gazing off into the distance until the ship reached land. 

"Hey, you okay, Senku?" Kohaku asked him after they landed and everyone had gotten off the ship, some more enthusiastically than others, the shores of the largest island of Hawaii greeting the entire crew. 

Since this was purely a chance to enjoy some free time, everyone ran off to do whatever their hearts desired, having exactly 48 hours to relax and enjoy the beaches of the Big Island before continuing their journey to America. 

"Yeah, I'm just a little tired." Senku reassured her, setting up a lawn chair and an umbrella, crawling on the chair, and closing his eyes. "No need to wait up for me." He responded before rolling over to take a much-desired nap. 

"Alright, if you say so." Kohaku walked off, leaving Senku to his nap while she decided to make the most of her mini-vacation. 

After playing beach volleyball with Nikki, Homura, Kirisame, and the rest of the girls, making matching flower crowns for her and Suika, and catching some fish for dinner with Mozu, Hyouga, and Homura, Kohaku sat near the huge bonfire everyone (or almost everyone, at least,) chipped in to build, taking a deep breath as she enjoyed the end of the first genuinely relaxing day she had in almost a month. 

"Haha, Gen, you always know how to tell a story, I'll give you that!" Ryuusui told Gen, the larger man laughing as he pulled the mentalist onto his lap. 

"That's not all I know how to do, you know." Gen murmured, both men somewhere between mildly tipsy and full blown wasted. 

"Oh, really? Well, why don't you show me later then?" the flamboyant captain gave Gen's ass a firm squeeze, causing the other man to flinch a little, his face turning pink. 

That was Kohaku's cue to turn her attention elsewhere, she decided, glancing around the not so quiet beach. Everyone, minus Hyouga and Homura, who had conveniently decided to disappear right after Ryuusui broke out the alcohol, was sitting around in groups of varying sizes, some chatting at a normal decibel level while others were hollering and whooping like crazy. Even Kirisame and Kinrou, who had each barely spoken 30 words to anyone else during the entire journey to America, were quietly talking together, both of them choosing to avoid alcohol, which came as no surprise to anyone. 

"Would you care for a drink?" Francois, who had noticed Kohaku was another one who had yet to take a drink, asked. 

"Oh, no thanks, I'm fine." Kohaku replied, allowing Francois to walk off. 

When the butler was out of sight, Kohaku gazed up at the stars, sighing to herself as the slightest hint of a cool, gentle breeze brushed against her skin. Senku, who had no stamina or ability to tolerate the tropical heat, had already retreated to his cabin for the night after taking a short walk with Gen. 

Kohaku had never been the type to pay close attention to other people's relationships, but she could tell they were both fond of each other in some way other than platonic to some degree, if nothing else. At any rate, Senku didn't seem to care for sex at all, and it didn't surprise Kohaku that Gen wasn't like Senku at all in that way so she figured the two of them enjoyed each other's company for other reasons. 

Besides, Kohaku realized as their trip to America went on, her own feelings and relationships weren't so easy to label either. Some people fell in love quickly and landed as hard as stone sinking to the bottom of the ocean, like Chrome had for Ruri ever since the two of them had met each other. Other people, like Matsukaze, didn't seem capable of having those kinds of feelings at all, showing no interest in anyone and preferring to focus on other things. Kohaku found herself somewhere in the middle-she had found both men and women attractive and occasionally felt her chest swell a little or a flush stain her cheeks when she saw someone attractive-"Dammit, why am I thinking about him of all people, she scolded herself when an image of Mozu made an unwelcome appearance in her mind. "I really have no taste sometimes."-but at the end of the day, when all was said and done, romance had never appealed to her-she had no dreams of settling down and marrying someone, having a bunch of kids, and growing old together.

Kohaku didn't crave anything so familiar and domestic as that-what she craved was adventure-exploring new places, meeting new people, fighting strong enemies to improve her own strength and skills. The life of a typical wife was nothing that sparked interest to her, and relationships were something she gave little thought to, preferring to focus her energy on taking care of Ruri and achieving her own personal goals. The sounds of the native wildlife-some birds, monkeys, and insects, complimented the noise of everyone else talking and laughing and yelling about any number of different things, but for a while, none of it even entered Kohaku's mind, her thoughts occupying all the available space in her brain to process external stimuli. 

"Man, that was some good beer, I gotta say!" Yo said with a sense of smug self satisfaction as he snatched Magma's half empty tankard out from under him when the bigger man was busy arguing with Chrome about the usefulness of shiny rocks or something-Yo wasn't really paying attention, as he was soon too busy slurping down a ridiculous amount of alcohol. 

"Hey, where's my beer?" Magma hollered when he noticed his alcoholic beverage was nowhere to be found. "Why, you little, that was mine, I oughta-" Both men stopped suddenly when they felt themselves being picked up-Mozu, who happened to be wandering in their direction, heard something vaguely interesting coming from someone near them-specifically someone who mentioned something about Kohaku, and decided the most amusing way to find space to sit down there and join the conversation would be to throw the two drunken idiots out of the way. 

"Ahh, what a night, Francois! The peaceful sound of the ocean waves, the perfect weather, what could be better?" Ryuusui, holding a not-quite-asleep Gen in his lap, declared, fully expecting his butler to agree with him. 

"It's just as you say." Francois unsurprisingly agreed, master and servant ignoring the sounds of Magma and Yo's screams as Mozu picked them up and threw them. 

"Hey, what the fuck are you doing here?" Chrome hollered, scooting away from Mozu-he didn't remember spending an extended amount of time with the islander before but he had already decided he didn't like him. 

"Oh, nothing much, I heard someone mention a certain someone I've been looking for, that's all." 

"Yeah, well go find them yourself." Chrome grumbled. 

"Haha, I bet Kohaku would kick his ass." a wasted Ginrou mumbled, slapping Chrome on the back. "Some offense." he then told Mozu. 

"None taken, I wasn't even listening." Mozu replied with all of his usual snark, "Well, enjoy the booze, or not, I guess, I don't really care." Mozu got up, deciding his work was done there. 

"Do you ever wash your hair?" Ginrou yelled while Matsukaze put his head in his hands in exasperation. 

"More than you wash your ass." Mozu shot back before walking off. "That's why I get laid more than you." 

"You motherfucker, I'm gonna-hey, let go!" Ginrou wailed when Matsukaze held him back, grumbling about having a massive headache. 

Kohaku, sitting just far enough away from the fire to remain unseen and unnoticed by everyone else under the cover of an enormous palm tree, took advantage of the extra space to lie on her back, sprawled out in the sand without a care in the world. Remembering something Senku told her about planets a while ago, she wondered if there were other planets out there like this one and if anyone on those planets had been turned to stone by the Why-Man. "That would really suck." she thought when Mozu sat down next to her. 

"What the hell are you doing here?" Kohaku asked, rolling over when she heard Mozu sit down next to her. 

"Come on, is that any way to say hello to a friend?" The annoying look Mozu gave her was, well, annoying, but regrettably, that wasn't all it was, Kohaku noted with some displeasure as she felt her heart rate increase. 

"Who said we were friends?" 

"Damn, you don't have to be so cold." he shot back without any indication that he was being serious. "And here I thought we got along okay." 

"You think a lot of weird things." Kohaku paused for a moment when she saw him take a small shriveled up piece of something out of some hidden pocket from his clothes. "What the hell is that?" 

"Oh, this? You roll these up and smoke them. It gives you a pretty good high and the crash isn't a pain in the ass like what happens when you get hungover, you want one?" he offered, lighting up his own...whatever it was. 

Kohaku shrugged, she had seen (and experimented with) worse in Ishigami Village with Chrome and Ginrou whenever Kinrou wasn't around. "Sure, I'll go for it." 

The sweet, slightly heavy smell that closely resembled a plant she had seen in the woods near Ishigami village before rushed in her nostrils when Mozu handed her one of the rolled up leaves (close enough, she thought when she picked up the end that wasn't lit,) and she took a quick puff. "Huh, this isn't too bad." she thought, ignoring the sounds of Magma and Yo starting up their ridiculous argument again. 

"How long does the smell hang on your clothes?" she asked Mozu, as she had been wearing a new dress Yuzuriha had sewn for her and she wanted to keep it in peak condition as long as possible. 

"Not at all if you take your clothes off." 

"Seriously, fuck you." Kohaku shot back, raising an eyebrow at him. 

"Hey, if you say so." 

"Dammit, you know what I meant." 

Mozu smirked when Kohaku shot him a glare, taking one last puff of her joint before placing it next to her and putting it out with the bottom of her sandal. "You really get on my nerves sometimes, you realize that?" 

"Well, I could get you off if you ask nicely." 

"Maybe if you used your mouth for something besides stupid remarks, maybe you'd have more friends." Kohaku laid into him without the slightest hint of remorse. If he wanted to be obnoxious, then he would just have to deal with the consequences, she decided, kicking off her shoes and kicking some sand at him. 

Despite all her talk, though, she couldn't help but squeak when Mozu grabbed her foot, closing the gap of space between them in a flash. 

"I told you before, I could if you wanted me to, but you have to say please." 

Kohaku shot him an exasperated look, pulling away from his grip and tackling him to the ground. "Maybe if you ask nicely, I won't break your neck, how's that for using your mouth for something?" 

Mozu just pulled her closer to him in response, the same flirtatious smirk on his face as before. "Fine, if you say so." 

"Fine." Kohaku shot him a glare, pulling up her dress and letting the obnoxious islander do the rest of the work. 

The night went on, the rest of the ship's crew talked and fought and debated the night away, people slowly trickling off the beach and back in their cabins with each passing hour, and Kohaku and Mozu were none the wiser, which neither of them would remember in more than the most vague details the next morning. There were worse ways to spend a night off traveling happened to be the last thing going through Kohaku's mind before her short-term memory took a nice, not so calm break for the time being.


	6. Chapter 6

At night, many people, if they didn't just go to sleep, relaxed after a long day or else stayed up to party, and this was as true on the Perseus as it was anywhere else. When Kohaku was little, her father told her she was anything but ordinary and she decided he was right, she mused while dodging a swing from Mozu's spear. With a well-executed kick, Kohaku came within an inch of his face, the dark haired man avoiding a kick with enough force to bring down three ordinary men. 

"Too slow, you almost got me though." 

"Who asked you?" Kohaku slashed at him with her knife, Mozu easily blocking her attack with his spear. 

"You did, as I recall. About half an hour ago, to be specific." 

"I asked you if you wanted to spar." Kohaku informed him, dodging another attack with a quick jump. "I don't remember asking you to run your mouth." 

"Well, you weren't complaining about me using my mouth last night." 

The smirk on his face even as he was dodging Kohaku's knife was infuriatingly, well, infuriating, Kohaku swallowing hard before directing another kick his way. Curse her inadequate ability to make good decisions, she scolded herself. Then again, it wasn't really her fault. Senku didn't like women and if she waited for someone with his personality to come along again, she'd still be waiting ten billion years later. Naturally, there was only one other metric to go by in this kind of situation, and it just so happened that Mozu had, by that metric, filled the bill as well as anyone could be expected to. 

"Why don't you worry about focusing on what's happening now." Her kick missed its intended target (his face,) instead landing on his arm, causing him to drop his spear. 

Of course, Kohaku knew better than to let her guard down, leaping to her feet again just before he turned to face her, clutching her knife as she assumed a defensive stance. 

"What, are you worried about me?" Mozu didn't wait for a response as he grabbed his spear and they both charged at each other. "That's sweet but completely unnecessary." 

"Shut up-" 

Before either of them could trade blows, an oddly shaped projectile interrupted their fight, emitting a feminine scream as it, or rather, he, crashed on the deck of the ship between them. 

"Hey, where'd that pipsqueak go?" Magma asked Yo, both drunken idiots wondering where their football had gone. 

"How the hell would I know, you're the one that threw it!" Yo hollered as Ginrou began sobbing, his tears creating a puddle that one of Tsukasa's former lackeys slipped on, causing the nameless man to trip, fall down the stairs, and crash onto someone else with a series of thumps followed by the sound of glass breaking and a door being broken down. 

"Well, let's go find it then! Hey, Ginrou!" 

When the two intoxicated imbeciles set out to search for their "football" (Ginrou,) no sooner did they approach Mozu and Kohaku than they dropped their weapons, gave each other a look, and picked up Magma and Yo, throwing them both down the stairs leading to the cabins. 

"Ahhhhh, my ass!" 

"Ow, ow, it's poking me, it's poking me, my ear-" 

The sound of someone ripping off a toilet seat to hit someone else with it, someone being tazed, and someone yelling incoherently caused someone nearby to break down crying and another person to leap under a misplaced Foosball table in sheer unadulterated panic. 

"I'm trying to think, but nothing happens." someone nearby mumbled as they staggered back up on the deck, and as the Perseus unfolded into a hotbed of chaos and disorder for the 17th time in about 20 days, give or take, Kohaku and Mozu saw a drunk Ryuusui stagger by with an equally drunk Gen, both men happily rambling about something as Ryuusui handed Gen a fistful of shiny gold coins. 

"Never a dull moment around here." 

"Can't say I disagree." Mozu added as the two of them snuck off to spy on Ryuusui and Gen. "It's almost as entertaining sneaking in to visit the girls in Ibara's harem when the old geezer's not around." 

"Mozu?" 

"Yeah?" 

"You want me to kick your ass again?" 

"Oh, come on, we both know I would have won this time." 

"Tell yourself whatever you want, it won't make it true." Kohaku shot back. 

It was getting late and going back to her cabin to sleep would have been a wise decision, but Kohaku had long since stopped trying to put that skill into practice, she realized when she and Mozu headed off to find somewhere to watch the evening's drama unfold.


	7. Chapter 7

Somewhere in the world, there may or may not have been people engaging in useful, productive activities but wherever they were, none of them were on the Perseus so it didn't matter.

"Ow, ow, that's my hair!" Matsukaze yelled when Magma accidentally stepped on his hair, the samurai staring straight up with a look of terror in his eyes when Kinrou struck Magma and the larger man fell over. 

"Got 'em!" Taiju yelled, tackling Magma like a linebacker before Magma could crush Matsukaze underneath him. 

"Hey, look, a naked woman!" Mozu told Magma when Magma broke free of Taiju's grip, clocking Magma upside the head when Magma turned to look. 

"What a dumbass." Mozu laughed to himself after tossing Magma aside. 

Meanwhile, Matsukaze, finally finding an opportunity to get up, leapt to his feet, rushing towards Ginrou, who just got clocked upside the head by a former member of the Empire of Might. 

"Master Ginrou-" 

"Haha, no old-fashioned weapon will be a match for my sharpshooting skills!" Yo hollered, hiding behind an unconscious Magma in order to shoot Matsukaze (all the better to practice his aim, and Senku had replaced the bullets in his gun with harmless projectiles earlier for training purposes,) the hapless ex-cop finding himself unable to even squeeze the trigger before Taiju picked him up Tarzan-style, all the better to get him out of the way when Ginrou and the nameless man got back to their feet, Matsukaze accidentally bum-rushing Kinrou, who happened to be heading in the exact wrong direction at the wrong time as Magma had smashed his glasses earlier; the whole thing falling apart quite literally when Ginrou tripped on Magma's left shoe that had fallen off his foot when Mozu threw him. 

"Goddammit, this is a complete shit show. There's not a chance in hell any of these morons survive one day in America if we encounter enemies, which we will." Hyouga complained to Tsukasa, who was drinking out of a mini box of orange juice with a little straw. 

"This is why I stopped drinking." Tsukasa told Hyouga as Taiju, who was still holding Yo, started shouting about violence being unacceptable and Magma, who kicked him in the shin as soon as he woke up, told him to shut up before Mozu, who had snuck behind both of them holding a hockey stick, lifted his arm, preparing to knock them out in one swing. "Otherwise I'd have died of alcohol poisoning after watching everyone's first training session-" 

"Oh, thank God, I finally found this place, this ship is huge." Kirisame, who had just showed up, said, brandishing a long, rather sharp-looking knife. "I apologize for the-" 

"Full offense, but sometimes I really wonder about your lack of common sense." Hyouga told Tsukasa, who couldn't help but stare in a combination of disbelief and horror as Kirisame, who suddenly saw Magma choking Kinrou, let out an ear-piercing scream before running several feet in preparation for a flying kick, at which point she knocked Magma off his feet, wrapping her thighs around his neck from behind to choke him to death, both of them crashing to the ground while Mozu, whose attention span just evaporated, whistled in appreciation of the nice view he got of Kirisame's legs. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to kill off enough of my brain cells to make me forget the absolute clusterfuck happening in front of me." Tsukasa could only stare on in confusion, frustration, and abject horror as Hyouga took out a shot glass, some horrible lime-green colored drink that smelled like a combination of industrial-strength disinfectant and lemon-lime gatorade and kicked back the approximately 2.5 ounces of liquid without so much as blinking. 

Then again, Tsukasa thought, his sword hand shaking, maybe there were worse things than alcohol-poisoning when he heard a terrified yell from another one of his former lackeys, who was currently getting his ass beat by Ginrou, who was whacking the man like a drunk baboon playing whack-a-mole and Yo, who had just jammed his gun, threw it at Matsukaze, who was trying in vain to get Ginrou to practice with an actual weapon instead of a plastic bowling pin.

_____

"Ugh, I feel so useless." Kohaku, who was in the first aid cabin, complained while Francois put her broken pinky finger in a splint. "How am I gonna use two knives now? Without my weapons I'll be practically useless." 

"There's nothing to worry about, Kohaku. I'm sure someone as resourceful as you will be able to find a way to compensate for your injury in no time at all." Francois reassured her, their steady hand and gentle touch reassuring Kohaku more than a little but less than she would have liked, some doubts still lingering in her mind. "I've met many unique and unusual people with all sorts of special talents and abilities in my line of work, and you're one of the most capable fighters I've seen." 

Kohaku glanced at the clock-knowing her luck, Senku would probably give her a boring job today to make sure she didn't make her injury worse before it had a chance to heal. That said, Senku got pretty drunk last night and last time Kohaku saw him, he was lying on his stomach crying while Gen rubbed his back. "That was 12 hours ago though." Kohaku mused when Francois gave her the go-ahead to leave. 

"That should help you heal up in no time." Francois called out to her as she left. "Don't hesitate to come back if the pain gets worse." 

"Yeah, thanks." Kohaku waved, Francois giving her a nod as she turned and left the room. 

Luckily, it didn't hurt too bad now, but Kohaku was pretty bored, hoping she could still find a way to train even with her injury. "There are lots of strong warriors on this ship anyways, finding a sparring partner shouldn't be too hard." she thought, making her way up to the main deck. "Plus I haven't heard anything from Senku so maybe I won't get stuck with any boring duties today." 

______

"Ahhhhhhhh!" Mozu had a self-satisfied smirk practically painted on his face after he threw Yo across the deck, the ex-cop screaming like a little kid before crashing headlong onto the side of the deck. 

"You know, this isn't as boring as I thought it would be." he said, turning his gaze back to Kirisame, who was still choking out Magma with her thighs. 

One thing he missed about Treasure Island, he thought, was the fashion-most of the girls wore thin, semi-sheer dresses and skirts that hugged their curves, and Kirisame was no different in that regard. Never being one to limit himself to only having X-rated fantasies about one girl at a time, Mozu wondered what Kohaku would look like if she wore the same kind of clothes Kirisame did, his train of thought double-tracking in the most deranged, perverted way possible, leaving him unaware of the woman quickly approaching him from behind. 

"What the-dammit, they all started without me-" Kohaku thought when she saw Mozu throw Yo out of the way and most of the other fighters brawling with each other on the center of the main deck. 

The rest of them were one thing, but after all the time he spent following her around and bothering her, Kohaku almost felt insulted that Mozu hadn't even bothered to tell her everyone was having a training session. Fine, he wants to be a jerk, I'll show him what that'll get him, Kohaku thought, making a beeline for him before launching a perfectly executed kick-she might not be able to use both her knives now, but this would work just fine, she thought as she extended her leg. Unfortunately for her and somewhat less unfortunately for Mozu, Magma, who had been saved by some nameless guy before Kirisame could kill him, yanked Ginrou up off the ground after the hapless village guard had tripped on Magma's left shoe the second time in 10 minutes, tossing the smaller man in the air right in Kohaku's direction. 

"I can't see anyone else right now, but I can see colors I didn't even know existed." Hyouga informed Tsukasa, his voice still as composed and controlled as always while Tsukasa looked on at his sort-of-not-really friend in a state of unparalleled confusion seasoned with a light sauce of existential fear and dread while the weight of Ginrou's small, gangly body proved to be just enough to knock Kohaku right on top of Mozu, causing her to accidentally fall right on top of him, and when she regained her bearings again, she found with an exaggerated sense of exasperation that she was basically sitting right on his face. 

"You know, if you wanted to take this somewhere more private, you could have just asked." 

"The only private place I'm gonna take you is the supply closet when I shove you in there and leave you for Francois to find." Kohaku wanted to punch him, but remembering that one of her fingers was broken and realizing that only punching him with one hand once wouldn't be worth the effort, felt an aggravating mixture of emotions brew in her like some kind of horrible lukewarm soup inside her brain, blocking out certain other forms of external stimuli like Hyouga telling Tsukasa that he hated kids and Tsukasa smashing a broken bottle over his head, several random nameless men falling on top of Ginrou, Kinrou crashing into Magma, Kirisame ripping off one of the round decorations on her dress and throwing it at Magma, chasing him away from Kinrou, Kinrou passing out after crashing into the wall, and Taiju crashing into the same wall seconds later trying to catch Ginrou, accidentally crashing into Matsukaze in the process, causing all three men to pass out while Tsukasa stalked off in a huff, too aggravated to stick around any more to witness the disastrous results of the crew's third training session in as many weeks. 

_____

"Ugh, my head. Drinking that much was ten billion percent a bad idea." Senku mumbled to himself as he stumbled up on the deck desperately craving fresh air to help distract him from his hangover. 

Though he did, in fact, find the fresh air he was craving, he also found Kinrou, Ginrou, Matuskaze, Magma, Yo, Taiju, Hyouga, and several people whose names he never learned passed out cold, blood, weapons, and a single shoe strewn across the deck of the Perseus, with Kohaku straddling Mozu, holding a shard of the broken bottle Tsukasa has smashed over Hyouga's head right against Mozu's chest, Mozu reacting by wasting no time grabbing her other hand and sucking on her fingers. 

"Keep that up and I'll take you somewhere even Francois won't find you until I'm done with you-" Kohaku huffed, her face as red as a beet yet not making any move to pull her hand away, Mozu humming in amusement as her other hand started visibly shaking. 

"You know what, on second thought, maybe I should just go back to sleep." Senku mumbled, clutching the side railing of the deck as he made his way back downstairs.


	8. Chapter 8

A few short hours ago, the Perseus and its crew made landfall several hundred miles away from their intended destination. 

"Damn it, what the hell happened? I don't understand!" Ryuusui complained, his eyebrows furrowed as he stared at the map. 

"Well, if you had listened to me before, we wouldn't have almost gotten swallowed by that whirlpool earlier but you just had to be a stubborn idealist like always!" Senku shot back. 

Ryuusui and Senku wasted no time launching an argument the moment they realized they had landed in northern Canada rather than America and the two men still refused to speak to each other hours after, Kohaku realized when, after being stuck on guard duty with Mozu, she was given a moment to go grab some food. Of greater concern, however, was that Tsukasa, Nikki, Magma, Hyouga, Kinrou, and Kirisame had been sent out to go hunting soon after they landed and none of them were back yet. Barring any freak accidents of nature, the sun would set in about half an hour, maybe less. 

"Alright everyone, since we're going to need more food to make it to America, we need some people to go hunting." Senku told all of the strongest fighters on board about 4 or 5 hours ago while everyone was still on the Perseus. "Each of you will pick a slip of paper out of the basket Yuzuriha's holding. When you're all done, you'll unfold the slip and look at the number on it. If yours has a 1 on it, you'll be going hunting, if it has a 2 on it, you'll be staying here and be assigned shifts for guard duty as necessary. 

When all was said and done, Tsukasa, Nikki, Magma, Hyouga, Kinrou, and Kirisame were sent out to go hunting while Kohaku, Mozu, Taiju, Ginrou, Matsukaze, and Homura were told to stay behind. 

"There's not a lot of food left but I managed to get a plate from the mess hall." Kohaku, who was holding a plate with some fruit and some type of bread only Francois knew how to make, said as she made her way back up to the front of the ship, which was just high enough compared to the rest to give them a halfway decent view of the ominous yet weirdly bland looking landscape in front of them, sitting down next to Mozu. 

Though she had been glad there was still food left, Kohaku's expression darkened when she saw Mozu lying on his back resting his left foot on his right knee, his right leg bent slightly. 

"Dammit, aren't you even going to pretend to be paying attention? If they come back and you don't notice, we're gonna be in big trouble." 

"Relax, we've been up here for about 3 hours." Mozu drawled. "If we haven't seen anything interesting now, I doubt we ever will. And if there's nothing out there, which seems to be the case, they'll be back sooner or later." 

"Would it kill you to at least pretend to take anything seriously?" Kohaku huffed, shooting him an annoyed look as he plucked a single grape off the plate she set down between them.

"Besides, if somehow there are other people out there by any chance, if they don't think we're watching them, maybe they won't bother us." 

"Maybe. Or maybe they'll kill us." 

"They can try." Mozu plucked a second grape off the plate before continuing. "But if they think they can beat us, they've got another thing coming." Mozu rolled over on his side when Kohaku took a piece of an apple, her gaze scanning the bleak, increasingly dark expanse of grass, rocks, and trees in front of them. 

What she didn't see surprised her far more than what she did. The statues of petrified people had been commonplace everywhere else she had been, but this strange cold land had none of those-all it was could be summed up with a single word. Empty. Even the animals, if in fact any had ever lived there, were gone, leaving Kohaku to wonder if the hunting team would find anything at all. If not, their remaining journey to America would be much more difficult than all the previous days of it had ever been. 

Naturally, the thought was ten billion percent not comforting at all, leaving Kohaku to descend into an increasingly foul mood as her worries grew with the passing of time. At any rate, as the sky darkened and the temperature dropped a few degrees, Kohaku didn't want to dwell on unpleasant things, so she wound up making semi-useless small talk with Mozu just like they had been before she went to get food, trying her best to push various negative thoughts out of her head like sweeping dust from a room. Despite his flaws, some of which could really get on her nerves at the best of times, there was a certain uncomplicated ease in carrying on a conversation with him, mostly because he seemed perfectly willing and able to change topics as necessary to avoid awkward pauses and, for better or for worse, he never lacked interesting stories to tell. 

Her own life had been rather routine and predictable before Senku showed up, Kohaku admitted. It wasn't always a bad thing, but there were times when she wondered if there was anything else out there besides her small, unsophisticated village. Meeting Senku changed all that, of course, as did fighting in the Stone Wars and traveling to Treasure Island, and now traveling to America. Traveling meant new places and new places meant new people, and talking with one of those people now, Kohaku thought, opened her eyes to just how much bigger the world was than she ever thought possible. In that sense, Mozu made her life more interesting, which, being on a ship for over a month with precious few ways to spend any free time she had, made an otherwise difficult journey that much more bearable. 

"Goddammit, this is why nobody's ever going to take you seriously, if you stopped hyper-focusing on the same damn thing like a mole digging a tunnel, maybe we would finally get somewhere!" Ryuusui's voice rang in the air, his unfortunate argument with Senku turning into a contest to see who could yell louder for a longer amount of time. 

"Yeah, well maybe if you hadn't been so bullheaded and stubborn in the first place, maybe we would actually be heading somewhere by now!" 

"For being such a tiny little runt, he sure has a loud bark." Mozu laughed, finding the image of Senku screaming his head off far too amusing to ignore. 

"Well, if that idiot captain had any common sense, we wouldn't have almost gotten swallowed up by that damn whirlpool this morning." Kohaku mused, trusting Senku's judgment entirely-he had never been wrong enough to endanger anyone's life before and she wasn't about to start doubting him now, she decided, her hand accidentally brushing against Mozu's as they both went to grab the same piece of fruit at the same time. She had no particular sense of ill will towards the captain, but she strongly believed that Senku was in the right in this situation and wished the other man would just accept it already. 

"Mozu." 

"What?" 

The annoying smirk on his face when their hands brushed against each other made her feel like she was going to pop a vein (even though Senku told her such a thing actually happening was statistically insignificant,) but she really wanted that piece of fruit, so she refused to move her hand away on principle. 

"Why are you giving me that look?" 

"And what kind of look would that be?" 

Mozu happened to be a man with a decent amount of talents, unfortunately, one of those talents was playing dumb. Damn, if only the hunting team would just hurry the hell up and come back already, Kohaku thought, trying to steady her breathing so she wouldn't accidentally squish the piece of fruit in her hand. 

"Like you want to eat me instead of the strawberry." Kohaku had dealt with a lot of uncomfortable, awkward, and downright terrifying things in her life, but the fact that she couldn't decide whether she wanted to throw Mozu into the ocean or fuck him right on the deck of the Perseus was by far the scariest of them all. 

Inhale for four seconds, Kohaku told herself, just the way Senku had taught her. Hold for seven, then exhale for eight, she reminded herself when Mozu let go, grabbing her hand instead and bringing it to his lips. She still kind of wanted to kill him sometimes, but right now, her hormones told her they had other idea in mind. 

"If-no, when the hunting team comes back or we get off watch duty, whatever happens first, if you eat that damn piece of fruit, I'm tossing you in the ocean and leaving you for the sharks." 

"What if I told you I'd rather do something else instead?" 

"That settles it, I'm gonna-"

A sudden crash heavy enough to rock the ship interrupted their pointless back-and-forth, causing both of them to almost fall over. 

"I thought I told you guys, fighting is bad!" Taiju's booming voice rang in the air, causing both of them to drop to the floor of the deck holding their ears in pain. 

With Taiju's booming voice temporarily damaging their hearing, neither of them heard the hunting team come back, tired, cold, and disheveled with only a single deer to show for their efforts, resulting in Kohaku and Mozu being stuck cleaning the dreaded supply closet that no one besides Francois was brave enough to willingly enter. 

"Way to go, now we're both stuck doing this for who knows how long." Kohaku muttered, clutching the broom she was holding much harder than necessary as she swept the floor. "I heard someone got eaten in here once by a giant rat." 

"I doubt we'll have to worry about that." Mozu replied. "That butler told us we ran out of meat a while ago but I saw somebody eating some meat yesterday." 

Kohaku felt herself stop breathing for a moment as she immediately realized the unpleasant implications of what Mozu just said, clutching her broom hard enough to break it. "Please tell me you're joking." 

"I figured it was only a matter of time with the way this little trip's been going to be honest." 

"Shit." Kohaku cursed under her breath when the broom she was holding snapped, both pieces falling to the floor. "Dammit, is there another broom in here?" 

"Catch." Mozu tossed one over, Kohaku catching it in one swift motion. 

"Oh, gross!" Kohaku saw a big old gross cobweb in the corner of some creepy looking shelf, whacking it with her broom. "I hate spiders."

"If we see any, I'll kill them if you do something for me in return." Mozu offered, sweeping part of the floor. 

Kohaku rolled her eyes as she brushed the cobweb away. "Maybe if you can finish this without saying anything annoying I'll consider it." she told him, picking up a crumpled up plastic cup and tossing it in a garbage bag. Spiders were really gross, after all, she told herself, finding herself cleaning more quickly than before and telling herself it was a waste of time to wonder why. It had been a pretty long day, after all, and the less time spending cleaning the dreaded supply closet, the better. If she just so happened to notice her damn hormones were being obnoxious again, she would just chalk it up to stress, and if Mozu made another dumb comment, well, at least nobody else would be around to notice if her face turned a little red. All in a day's work, right?


	9. Chapter 9

The sky was still mostly dark when Kohaku woke up. Though she didn't need to be up for another hour or so, she couldn't help but feel an irresistible urge to get up and do something-anything. In seconds, Kohaku found herself putting on her simple blue dress, tying her hair back, sliding on her sandals, and and heading up to the main deck, her footsteps almost completely silent thanks to her years of experience tracking and hunting in the forests near Ishigami Village. Though she heard nothing, she knew better than to assume it meant nothing was happening-lots of things happened in silence, after all. Besides, if she had woken up this early, she thought, there must be a reason. There was always a reason. 

A refreshing cool breeze greeted Kohaku when she made her way up to the deck, causing her to breathe a sigh of relief. This was by far her favorite kind of weather and she wondered if maybe it was a good sign. Weirder things had happened, after all, especially on the Perseus. She didn't have much time to ponder that particular thought, however, as the sound of a familiar pair of footsteps-ones almost as light and silent as her own, padding on the ground with the same careful pressure as her own, alerted her to the fact that she wasn't alone.

"Couldn't sleep either?" 

Kohaku didn't have to look to realize it was Mozu, but she did anyways, curious as to why the hell he was awake so early too. 

"Apparently not. I don't know why though." 

Mozu wore the same self-satisfied smile he usually had on his face as his eyes scanned her body, pleased with what he saw. 

"I don't suppose you have anything to do either, then." he added. "I could always fix that." 

"When have you ever claimed otherwise?" 

Kohaku couldn't say why, but despite getting to know Mozu far better than she ever planned (or expected) to on the voyage to America and being more than used to him being well, himself, an odd, prickly sensation under her skin made it hard to focus on anything besides the weird sensation she had that something was going to happen-whatever that something might be, her instincts told her it was of the utmost importance to be prepared. 

"I'm not exactly an expert on how people from the old world do things, but there's a saying 'no time like the present.' " 

"Really?" Kohaku had to put a little effort into not rolling her eyes at him, smoothing out her dress a little to give herself something else to do. "That's the best you got?" 

"Fine, we can sneak off later and have some fun." Before Kohaku could decide how she felt about that let alone say anything, he barreled on without missing a beat. "If you use your imagination, there's a solution for everything." 

Kohaku kept her eyes closed a few extra seconds when she blinked, torn between the urge to slap him and the urge to drag him off to a closet and sit on his face (it wasn't like he complained last time, after all.) She had been in a weird mood since she woke up and didn't have the slightest idea why. "For someone who puts as little effort into almost everything as possible, it's almost impressive how persistent you are." 

Mozu shrugged, flashing Kohaku a wolfish grin. "Well, there's only two things in life: cute girls and everything else, and it makes sense to save your effort for the more important things." 

As much as Kohaku had learned about Mozu in about 30-something of the 40 days she had been on the Perseus and the several days she spent on Treasure Island, Kohaku realized that in some ways, he'd always remain a mystery, for better or for worse. Having changed in some ways and staying the same in others between their first meeting and now, Kohaku realized that whatever else Mozu was, he was great at sparking her curiosity. 

"I guess that's one way to look at it. A very (very, she thought,) strange way, but I doubt I'm the first person to tell you that." 

"Not by a long shot." Even during a less than intellectually stimulating conversation like this (most of their conversations were to be honest but Kohaku had never been as socially selective as someone like Senku,) his carefree, almost relaxed tone of voice made her feel something close to calm (how weird, she thought.) "But to be honest, even if you weren't as cute as you are, I'd rather be stuck on a ship for a month with you than be stuck on a ship for a month without you." 

"Why, Mozu, it almost sounds like you like me or something." 

"That might be because I've discovered a lot of things after meeting you." Luckily Mozu wasn't the romantic type, Kohaku thought, or else she might have had to gag. Romance was never her thing, after all. "Well, of all the things this journey has been, it's certainly been interesting."

Of all the bizarre, sometimes unexplainable things that had happened on the journey to America, Kohaku thought, the weird flutter in her chest when she held eye contact with Mozu for too long and the odd way her heart skipped a beat or several when they were alone and in close proximity to each other were by far the weirdest of them all. Mozu wasn't what she, or anyone else, would call a nice person, but he turned out to be easier to talk to and more entertaining to spend time with than a lot of people who seemed nicer on the surface. Whether it made sense or not was a question outside her ability to answer, but when she caught a glimpse in the distance as the sun crawled above the horizon and the smell of the cool, clean air tinged with the salty smell of the ocean spray entered her lungs, she decided maybe it wasn't such a bad thing after all. 

Sure, spending 40 days, give or take, might have had something to do with it, but the sight in front of her and the gentle breeze on her skin felt a hell of a lot better than lot of things ever had. The landscape quickly becoming more and more visible on the horizon was so pretty, Kohaku and Mozu didn't even notice a certain captain and a certain scientist who had decided to head up to the main deck glare at each other when each became aware of the other's presence until after the louder of the two got his two cents in. 

"Well, I'll be damned, we actually made it in 40 days! We're finally here!" Ryuusui slapped Senku on the back hard enough to knock him over, an obvious expression of surprise crossing his face when he looked over at Senku and found him lying face-down on the ground. 

"Wow, he really has no stamina." Mozu commented after turning to see what happened. 

"What the-Oh my God, Senku!" 

Mozu still wasn't sure why Kohaku was friends with the spiky-haired runt but he made his way over anyways as a few other people began waking up and making their way up onto the main deck when Ryuusui shouted "We made it, everyone!" at the top of his lungs. 

"Senku, you better not die on me or I'll kill you!" Kohaku yelled in Senku's ear, shaking him after picking him up. 

"I'm still alive you crazy gorilla woman." Senku mumbled, his tone more good-natured than mocking while Mozu laughed a little. 

"Oh dear, what did I miss while I was hungover?" Gen, who just showed up, asked Ryuusui. 

"Nothing right now but if your lazy ass stayed in bed any longer, you would have." Ryusuui teased Gen, squeezing his waist in a side-hug.

"I'm surprised you're still alive." Mozu told Senku after Kohaku let go of the spiky-haired scientist. 

"I'm surprised you still have any brain cells left." Senku shot back while Kohaku, who was surprised but not exactly disappointed that two of the most unusual men in the world had entered her life in completely different ways, ignored their little developing squabble, gazing at the most beautiful sunrise in her life while everyone else shouted and cheered in joy and Ryuusui swept Gen off his feet and planted a kiss on his mouth, prompting a few more people to cheer as the Perseus finally approached its destination. 

What a strange and interesting world it was, Kohaku thought, sighing in appreciation as the sun's rays began to warm the air. What a strange and interesting world indeed. 


End file.
